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More Passengers With Guns Showing Up At Sea-Tac, Other Airports

file photo of a Transportation Security Administration worker watching over a line of people awaiting security screening at La Guardia airport in New York, New York. (photo credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

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(CBS Seattle)– More passengers are showing up at airports across the country with loaded guns in their carry-on luggage, according to a new report from the Associated Press. And, Seattle-Tacoma International is one of the top 12 airports in the country for such firearm incidents.

The Associated Press analyzed Transportation Security Administration data from 2011 and 2012 on the number of passengers screened at all U.S. airports along with the number of firearm incidents at each airport. TSA screeners found 894 guns on passengers or in their carry-on luggage during the first six months of this year. That’s a 30 percent increase over the same period last year. During all of last year 1,549 guns were found on passengers going through security; 85 percent of those guns were loaded.

According to the AP report, found at the Yakima Herald, 37 guns were intercepted at Sea-Tac last year. Five of the top 12 airports were in Texas including Dallas-Fort Worth International where 80 guns were found and George Bush Intercontinental with 52.

The report says TSA screeners at John F. Kennedy airport in New York found only one passenger with a gun last year, compared with 96 at Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.

The airport in Walla Walla was among the small airports where the most guns were intercepted with 2.9 per 100,000 passengers. By contrast, the airport in Roswell, New Mexico had 8.5 per 100,000 passengers.

The TSA data doesn’t include other weapons like stun guns, flare guns, BB guns or pellet guns. The most common firearm found on passengers was a .38 caliber pistol.